Our Stories
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!
By Ali Hormann | posted 01/26/2012
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34)
Quite recently I was given an explanation by a four-year old on how to get God to do what you ask. Keep in mind it was the process on how to make it snow when you wake up from your nap, but still it was clear precise and direct:
"First you make a cut out of a snow flake in school. Then you put your name on it to make sure you know it's yours. Then you bring it home and tape it to a window that you can see the sky through. Next you say to God, 'Jesus, I know you're up there and I would like to snow again so I can play outside and make a new snowman.' Then you just take a nap and it should be snowing by the time you wake up!"
Impressively easy, right? I mean this is the kind of solution a Minnesota girl like me should have totally known earlier. Not to mention it involves some of my favorite things; paper crafts, snow and taking a nap!
As I smiled and did my best not to laugh I couldn't help but realize how often I hope for a solution as simple as that to get what I want. But in the seeming simplicity of five steps to wish fulfillment lies the inevitable danger of not only the legalization of faith but the human arrogance of shrinking the Creator God into essentially, an Easy Bake Oven.
God is not a genie. He does not change with our whims or grovel at our beckon call. At the same time God is not a bully who dangles exactly what you want in front of your face only to snatch it away at the last moment, when it is finally within your grasp. He does not delight in misery or the idea of saying "I told you so." He is a God who longs and deserves to be trusted, desires to be in a relationship with His children and who will not be satisfied with half-hearted love or allegiance.
In Job 38, when Job asks God where He is in the midst of great suffering, God says to Job what I can only imagine induced a shudder that sent the earth shaking, "Brace yourself like a man, I will question you and you will answer me." God asks Job where Job was when the foundations of the earth were laid, if Job was the one who told the ocean it could come this far but no further, if Job had seen the storehouses of snow. The list of remarkable feats and minute details goes on for 129 verses and reading it even now makes one feel weak and humble and a little bit ashamed. And that is how I've always assumed it was meant to be, humbling to the point of guilt, shame and embarrassment because who are we that God would be mindful of us.
But if you look at the character of God, the light that drives out the darkness of shame and guilt, that is not in line with His being. It doesn't take Job 129 verses to have a distinct fear of God and an overwhelming humbleness of self but God goes on, not to instill fear but to ignite freedom. I think God is saying to Job, 'Listen, if you were to know all of these things it would absolutely be too much for you to handle.' This is God giving Job the freedom to be without the full answer, without a five step plan to realization. God is giving Job the freedom to live a full life without the worry of how to get from A to B when finances are to so tight and life is so stressful and everything keeps piling up.
Jesus in Matthew 6 teaches his disciples how to pray and then says "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself and each day has enough trouble of its own." This invitation, while much more scaled back, is the same invitation God gave to Job. It is not a coincidence that Jesus first said "This is how you should pray," and then invited the crowd not to worry. It isn't because when you pray, with these steps in this manner, then everything will be alright. It is an invitation to relationship built on trust and the faith that He has it under control and we can just let it snow.
Ali can be reached via email here.
